Notre Dame will take its 2-0 record to the newly-built Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., this weekend for the championship rounds of the Coaches vs. Cancer (CVC) Classic. The Fighting Irish will face Saint Joseph's at 9:30 p.m. (ET) Friday in a semifinal showdown. The Irish will play either Florida State or BYU Saturday in the title game (9:30 p.m.) or third-place contest (7 p.m.).

TruTV will broadcast all four championship-round games of the CVC Classic. On the call will be Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Greg Anthony (analyst), Steve Smith (analyst), Craig Sager (sideline) and Seth Davis (contributor).

The Fighting Irish Digital Media crew of Jack Nolan (play-by-play) and Sean Kearney (analyst) will call the action on radio (affiliate listings on Pg. 2) and the broadcast can also be heard for free on UND.com.

Notre Dame won both of its preliminary-round games of the CVC Classic. The Fighting Irish topped Evansville, 58-49, on Saturday and defeated Monmouth, 84-57, on Monday. Notre Dame is off to a 2-0 start for the sixth straight season.

Friday will be just the second meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Saint Joseph's. The Fighting Irish captured a 68-65 win over the Hawks on Dec. 29, 1992, in New Orleans, La. That contest was part of the Sugar Bowl Tournament.

Notre Dame's Mike Brey is 0-2 against Saint Joseph's during his head coaching career. Both games took place while Brey was the head mentor at Delaware.

COACHING CONNECTION

Mike Brey's second game as a college head coach came against Saint Joseph's and Phil Martelli, who was making his college head coaching debut with the Hawks in that contest. Brey's University of Delaware squad fell to Saint Joseph's, 64-56, on Dec. 2, 1995, in Newark, Del.

The duo met again the following season at Saint Joseph's and the Hawks topped the Blue Hens 77-65. Those are the only two meetings between Brey and Martelli as head coaches.

BREY HEAVILY INVOLVED IN COACHES VS. CANCER PROGRAM

Playing in the Coaches vs. Cancer (CVC) Classic is appropriate for Notre Dame since head coach Mike Brey is extremely active in the CVC program. He currently ranks eighth nationally (fourth among individual coaches) in fundraising for the CVC program that is sponsored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the American Cancer Society. Since beginning his partnership with CVC at the University of Delaware in 1994, Brey has helped raise nearly 2 million dollars.

During the past fiscal year; Brey, and his wife Tish, helped raise $185,214 through a variety of initiatives. Notre Dame's CVC annual golf outing was the sixth-highest single fundraising event (hosted by an individual coach) in 2011, generating more than $100,000 in donations.

Brey was the recipient of the 2003 CVC Champion Award, given annually by the CVC National Council and the NABC. He has been a national board member of the Council since February 2003. He and Tish have been honored with several awards for their efforts in the community and were recipients of the 2007 Franklin D. Roosevelt Award presented by the March of Dimes for their volunteer service to the South Bend area.

In September 2009, Brey was among five head coaches to travel to Washington, D.C., to participate in the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network Leadership Summit & Lobby Day on behalf of the health care reform with regards to cancer research.

SHERMAN SHINES

Senior center Garrick Sherman came off the bench to notch career-best totals in points (22) and rebounds (9) in Monday's 84-57 win over Monmouth. The point total led all players in the game, while his rebound mark tied him with teammate Jack Cooley for game-high honors.

Sherman made a career-high eight field goals (on 10 attempts) in addition to connecting on a career-high six free throws (on seven tries).

Sherman's previous career-high for points were 10 against Washington on Nov. 24, 2010, while he was at Michigan State. His previous high for boards were eight versus Eastern Michigan on Nov. 12, 2010.

Cooley produced his 14th career double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds in the 58-49 season-opening victory over Evansville. He also had a career-high six blocked shots versus the Purple Aces. The Irish finished with nine blocks in the contest.

The Irish returned 2,003 of their 2,257 total points (88.7%) from one season ago. The team also brought back 88.7% of its minutes played from last season.

SEASON-OPENING SUCCESS

Notre Dame won its 14th straight season opener with a 58-49 triumph of Evansville on Saturday inside Purcell Pavilion. The Irish have won all 13 openers under head coach Mike Brey.

PLAYING WELL IN PURCELL

The Fighting Irish are 102-7 in their last 109 games played at home. That .936 home winning percentage over the course of the last six-plus seasons ranks second nationally. Kansas is first with a .964 mark.

The Irish are 37-1 (.974) in their last 38 home games.

BUSY BEGINNING

Notre Dame will start the season by playing eight games in 20 days. The Fighting Irish have nine contests, including one exhibition, on their docket for the month of November before playing just five games in December.

IN THE POLLS

Notre Dame is No. 20 in the Associated Press poll and No. 21 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Three Fighting Irish opponents appear in the top 10 of both rankings. Louisville (#2), Kentucky (#3) and Syracuse (#8) are in the same spot in both polls. Notre Dame will face Louisville twice during the regular season.

Beachem (6-6, 180-pound small forward) and is ranked 64th by Scout.com and 85th by Rivals.com. He averaged 19.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 2011-12. An all-state selection he played on the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Junior All-Star Team.

Jackson (6-1, 179-pound point guard) is ranked 26th overall by Scout.com and 30th by Rivals.com. As a junior, he averaged 22.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.0 steals while leading Marian to the Class 3A sectional title. An honorable mention All-American by MaxPreps.com, he is an all-state honoree and two-time Northern Indiana Conference Player of the Year.

Torres (6-6, 200-pound power forward) was an all-Northern Indiana Conference honorable mention selection after averaging 10.0 points and 7.2 rebounds. He plays on the same MBA Select AAU Team as Jackson.

Vasturia (6-5, 190-pound shooting guard) is ranked 90th overall by Scout.com. He was named MVP of the Philadelphia Catholic League after leading his team to the Philadelphia 4A state championship while averaging 21.0 points and 9.3 rebounds.

COOLEY ON WOODEN AWARD PRESEASON TOP 50 LIST

Senior forward Jack Cooley has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball media members, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early front-runners for college basketball's most prestigious honor.

108 YEARS AND GOING STRONG

The 2012-13 campaign marks the 108th season of basketball at Notre Dame and the 18th season as a member of the BIG EAST Conference. Notre Dame teams have posted an all-time record of 1725-939 for a .648 winning percentage. In 17 seasons as a member of the BIG EAST, the Irish own a 160-130 (.552) record in conference regular-season play.

FIGHTING IRISH PICKED THIRD IN BIG EAST PREASEASON COACHES' POLL

Notre Dame was picked to finish third in the BIG EAST's Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Irish received one first-place vote. Defending BIG EAST tournament champion and 2012 NCAA Final Four participant, Louisville, was the choice to win this year's regular-season crown as the Cardinals garnered 14 votes (coaches are not permitted to vote for their own team). Louisville finished the '11-'12 campaign with a final 31-6 record. Syracuse was tabbed for second place as the Orange are coming off a program-best 34-3 season.

COOLEY AND GRANT GARNER PRESEASON BIG EAST ACCOLADES

Senior forward Jack Cooley earned a spot on the preseason all-BIG EAST first team. Cooley was a second team all-conference selection as a junior after averaging 14.6 points and 10.2 rebounds in league play.

Junior guard Jerian Grant was named to the league's preseason honorable mention team. Grant averaged 12.3 points and 5.3 assists per game in BIG EAST play last season en route to being named to the conference's all-rookie team.

IRISH CAPTAINS

Scott Martin (GS/G), Jack Cooley (Sr./F) and Eric Atkins (Jr./G) will captain the Fighting Irish during the 2012-13 season. Martin and Atkins are the 20th and 21st players in program history to serve as two-time team captains.

NATIONAL EXPOSURE

Every Fighting Irish game during the 2012-13 season can be seen either on television or the internet. Notre Dame will have 21 of its games covered on the ESPN family of networks. The Irish also will have two games each on CBS and TruTV.

NOTRE DAME TO HOST KENTUCKY IN SEC/BIG EAST CHALLENGE

Notre Dame will play host to defending national champion Kentucky in the 2012 SEC/BIG EAST Challenge. The SEC/BIG EAST Classic consists of 12 games over a three-night span. The Wildcats will pay a visit to Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center on Thursday, Nov. 29.

This will be Notre Dame's second appearance in the SEC/BIG EAST Challenge. In 2010, Notre Dame and Kentucky met at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky., with the Wildcats taking home a 72-58 win.

This year's matchup will be the 61st meeting between the two teams with Kentucky owning a 42-18 advantage in the series. The Wildcats' last visit to Purcell Pavilion was on March 25, 2009, in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament and the Irish snapped a 10-game losing streak to Kentucky with a 77-67 victory.

The Wildcats are 5-2 all-time in seven appearances at Purcell Pavilion. It will be the seventh time under Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey that the Irish will face Kentucky.

IRISH RETURN TO CROSSROADS CLASSIC

Notre Dame will battle Big Ten rival Purdue in the second annual Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. The game between the Irish and the Boilermakers is part of a doubleheader on Saturday, Dec. 15. Indiana and Butler meet in the first game at 2 p.m. (ET) followed by Notre Dame and Purdue at 4:30 p.m. (ET).

IRISH AIM FOR SEVENTH STRAIGHT 20-WIN CAMPAIGN

Notre Dame has reached the 20-win mark in each of the last six seasons and nine times in the last 12 seasons under head coach Mike Brey. The last time Irish teams reached the 20-win plateau in six straight campaigns was from 1983-89 under head coach Digger Phelps.

ELDER STATESMAN

Mike Brey is in his 13th season along the Irish sidelines. He is the second-longest tenured coach in the BIG EAST, behind only Jim Boeheim of Syracuse. Brey stands fifth all-time in career BIG EAST victories (both regular-season and tournament) with his 133-89 (.599) mark. He is one of nine coaches in BIG EAST history to record 100 conference wins.

POSTSEASON STRETCH

Notre Dame has earned appearances in the postseason in each of the last 13 seasons, which marks the longest stretch in school history. The Irish have been to the NCAA Tournament on eight occasions and the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) five times during this current stretch. Under head coach Mike Brey, Notre Dame has played in the NCAAs eight times and NIT four times.

LOOKING BACK

Notre Dame posted a 22-12 record last season and finished third in the BIG EAST regular-season standings with a 13-5 league mark. The Irish made their third straight appearance in the BIG EAST Championship semifinals.

The Fighting Irish earned their third consecutive NCAA tournament bid and fell to Xavier, 67-63, in the second round in Greensboro, N.C. Notre Dame was the No. 7 seed in the South Region.

Cooley garnered the BIG EAST Most Improved Player Award in addition to being a second-team all-league pick. Grant was named to the conference's all-rookie team.

BIG EAST BEASTS

Notre Dame is 31-9 (.775) over its last 40 BIG EAST regular-season contests, including a 24-6 (.800) mark in the last 30 league games.

The Irish have gone 70-36 (.660) in BIG EAST regular-season play over the past six seasons. That is tied with Pittsburgh for the third-best mark in the league over that time span.

Notre Dame has gone 47-6 (.887) at home in BIG EAST play over the last six seasons. That is the best home winning percentage for any BIG EAST school in league play over that time period.

NOTRE DAME LISTED AS POTENTIAL HOST FOR ESPN COLLEGE GAMEDAY

The ESPN College Basketball GameDay cameras could be returning to Notre Dame during the 2012-13 campaign. ESPN released its College GameDay schedule and Notre Dame's matchup with defending BIG EAST tournament champion and 2012 NCAA Final Four participant Louisville on February 9, 2013, at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center is listed as one of two potential sites for the game. The other game that day which could be part of the Saturday Primetime broadcast is Pittsburgh at Cincinnati.

The site of the Feb. 9 contest will be chosen closer to the date of the game. The GameDay matchup will be played at 9 p.m. (ET) on ESPN and the game not chosen will be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2 at 6 p.m. that evening.

Notre Dame has hosted the Saturday morning show and primetime basketball contest on one other time -- Jan. 24, 2009, when the Irish played Connecticut.

IRISH RANK NUMBER ONE IN 2012 GSR

University of Notre Dame athletic programs again rank as the best in the country in graduation rates, based on Graduation Success Rate (GSR) figures released by the NCAA--including first-place ratings in the sports of football, men's basketball, women's basketball and ice hockey.

Among the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision institutions, Notre Dame had the highest percentage of its sports with 100 percent scores (for the seventh time in eight years), with a .863 figure (19 of 22).

In men's basketball, Notre Dame achieved a perfect 100 GSR rating, with only Duke, Illinois, Kansas, Utah State, Wake Forest, West Virginia and Western Kentucky also reaching the top slot.